Beamish 60^th Celebration Rally  August 2008

As part of our 60^th birthday celebrations we had a full weekend of events and some stayed on for a full week centred around Beamish. Quite a few ardent ralliers arrived at Bobby Shafto Caravan Park on Friday 15^th August and struggled to set up on the uneven pitches. At least we all helped each other and with the aid of a few bricks stones and pieces of wood all set for a busy weekend.

Saturday morning and everyone set off early to meet up for a run to the dales and a stop at the Weardale Steam Railway.  Efforts were made along the way to raise money for Marie Curie as was the purpose of the weekend apart from enjoying ourselves. A few intrepid fundraisers were seen with silly hats and tins parading around Stanhope and the railway car park.

The cars were of course the stars of the show and we were grateful to have the famous ‘Katy’ car travelling with us to help raise funds.

Tracey and Grant decided to try the pubs in Stanhope (for the fund raising of course). Others decided on advice from a journalist who caught us for pictures in Stanhope to gate crash a small show that was taking place in Frosterley a mile or so down the road. This proved a good idea as the organisers welcomed us and we were soon the star attraction with three cars and loads of stickers to put on Katy and horns to blow and balloons to blow up.

After this little interlude we continued on our Dales Tour catching the rest of the party as they negotiated Crawleyside bank and the sun shone for us as we took in the breathtaking views of the moors.

Everyone managed to follow my route and we all congregated once again at Derwent Reservoir for a while before moving on some in search of petrol so diverting to Consett others through Blanchland and we took a shorter route to the pub as we were a little hungry by this time.

Everyone ate and rested and then eventually found their way to the club site bar for Karaoke and an auction and raffle to boost funds. Sue Akrill from the Brid and Wolds Branch had agreed to be Master of Ceremonies and did a sterling job. We even managed to sing Happy Birthday to Peter Rowland and present him with a cake.

Everyone including the residents of Bobby Shafto were very generous and I believe we raised around £200.

Some were adamant they wanted a particular item and bid up and up. Chris Akrill is to be seen now in a suave Morris Minor Tie but I have included a picture as you will never see him again (or at least we hope so.

The managers of the campsite had asked to give an award to the car they liked best and announced this was the Traveller owned by George from Cumbria. It was nice for him to be presented with a glass plaque though he is very shy he was delighted as he had just finished rebuilding his pride and joy and it was her first rally.

Thanks to all the members of the NEMMOC who attended and helped with the day and the evening fund raising. It was a truly joint effort.

Sunday morning we were all off again and parking up on the hard standing car park we had been designated for the rally.

We were unable to use the rally field due to the wet conditions but we were fine on our own bit of Beamish and plenty of people came across to see the cars before or after going into the museum. Our party had special passes to come and go as we pleased so were not hindered by the queues. The weather though intermittent allowed some respite and sunshine and I think most people enjoyed the Beamish Experience.

We had a total of 46 cars in attendance. Some had not arrived or our total would have been 54 but the weather was a little unpredictable.

After booking in and ensuring we had the same tally of people as Beamish to pay for I managed a short visit to the town and school and cottages with my good friend Rosie. It was nice to see her enjoying the tour as we had been together before when most of the areas were closed in mid winter. We ended up in the pub for a well-earned pint before returning to the cars to say our goodbyes to those who were day visitors or weekenders.

I must pay tribute to Adam Luke who organised the bookings and was on site most of the day missing his brother’s birthday bash to help in booking in and marshalling. He had been in charge of the entries taking on the task willingly and managed with great skill. The NEMMOC Committee presented him with his own special plaque at the rally to show our appreciation.

This event was a year and a half in the planning and seemed to go over so quickly and was gone. However I know from the letters of thanks and E Mails that I have received that the NEMMOC did a good job once again.